The Woolpack

Last week marked one year of Thrifty Finds! I’m not sure where the time has gone but am so pleased that, despite a new job and less time, this series has kept me blogging.

I have plans for further series and have been drafting lots more posts, but thank you for sticking with the blog while I adjusted to a new schedule.

If you follow me on instagram you’ll see that is where I tend to post most often.

But I like the feeling of community that blogging offers and especially welcome comments and thoughts from readers. (or ideas for any posts??)

And, please share your Thrifty Finds too!

This past week I ended up making quite a few charity shop purchases (which wasn’t the intention!)

I finally bought a new handbag! This is a big achievement for me as my current one had been broken for about three months 😦 But I’m really fussy about bags: it’s got to be the right size, have the right handle and not be too boring (!). I had almost resigned myself to buying something firsthand (at about £40 – ouch!) then came across this one for just £4 in the Dorothy House shop in Malmesbury at the weekend. I also snapped up the £2 purse which had such a fun pattern (now I shall smile every time I open it up).

And I made use of the old bag by cutting out the internal purse. I now use this to store a fabric shopping bag and keep in my handbag at all times.

3. I also bought a few children’s books from the Oxfam shop in Malmesbury:

l-r: The Woolpack by Cynthia Harnett; Party Shoes by Noel Streatfeild; Children in History: The Nineteenth Century (pub 1961).

The latter I bought out of interest as I imagine it is really quite dated. I’ve started to have a ‘read aloud’ book with my younger girls as a way of spending time together, sharing stories and taking turns in reading. At the moment we are reading A Traveller in Time by Alison Uttley, who is one of my favourite children’s authors. When I was younger I loved the Ballet Shoes series by Noel Streatfield, but have never read The Woolpack. I’m hoping one of these will be our next read-aloud book.

4. Carrying on with the reading theme, I was luck enough to receive the latest Barnardos Retail leaflet in the post. I love how they use actual donated clothes to show how these can be styled as up to the minute outfits. I’d recommend picking up a copy next time you pop into Barnardos.

And, although not free, I did treat myself to ordering the first edition of this beautiful magazine, Creative Countryside. Filled with gorgeous images, inspirational writing and seasonally themed, this is something I am taking time to savour and read, bit by bit. The article on ‘Bookish Hygge’ really resonated with me and made me wonder if all the book buying I have been doing recently is in preparation for the darker nights ahead…

5. On Saturday we spent the day at a Sustainability fair in Malmesbury, Wiltshire (hence the charity shop purchases!). It was a really interesting day with lots of speakers, including Green Party MEP Molly Scott Cato. The brilliant Wiltshire Scrapstore was also on hand providing free kids’ activities. My younger two got involved with making masks: